Floating Down a Gorge in the West MacDonnell Ranges …

We all wanted to go floating along a gorge. There was a half hour walk up to the Red Bank Gorge that you had to scramble over the shallow riverbed, and along rocks.  Peter wore sneakers but everyone else tried to do it in thongs the first time and all felt thoroughly sore, and the next time wore our water shoes and carried our tyre tubes.

 

Jarrad, Lucy, Susan, and Peter each had their own tube, while I put on the baby carrier and put Edmund in that before getting onto my tyre. The water was icy cold as our bottoms, hands and feet trailed in it. We pushed ourselves against the gentle current along the chasm admiring the rock walls that seemed to stretch endlessly upwards.In parts it would balloon outwards to open up into a large circular pool, and then other bits would be so narrow that we could only just squeeze through. In one part we had to get off and clamber along a small rock ledge as the water suddenly became shallow.

 

The Gorge we Floated Down

A boulder had fallen down and a piece of wood had somehow become lodged creating a climb upwards of maybe two meters. There were two men together who were ahead of us and stopped to offer assistance. Jarrad passed kids upwards in turn and they offered to hold Edmund while Jarrad helped me up.

I was just about to climb up when Peter cried “Snake,” and I slipped backwards in panic, luckily falling onto my tyre first then into the water.  I grabbed the tyre, and gasped for air as I came back up.  I didn’t even notice how icy cold the water was at that point, all I could think about was how close that snake was to my children … and me!  I struggled to get back on to the tyre as I was shaking so much that it kept slipping out from under me.

There was a brown snake there, which may or may not have been alive.  No one could detect any movement even though the three men and four children stared at it for what seemed like eons to Mum quivering down below.

 

It took a lot of coaxing and ridiculing, but finally I came up, too, and the group of eight progressed further along the gorge As everyone floated to the next corner the stench of rotten kangaroo carcass ahead filled our nostrils. We unanimously voted to turn back and once again face the dangerous, aggressive snake that might be alive again rather than continue passed the stinky kangaroo.

 

We floated gently down the gorge from there, just floating along on the current.  Everyone enjoyed just lying there watching the enormous rocky sides of the gorge pass slowly by.  Everyone except Edmund, who clung to me for dear life, pale and trembling with fright.  When we got back to the waterhole everyone warmed up in the sun for a while before we wanted to dip in and out of the waterhole again.  Edmund wouldn’t go near anyone while he recovered from the trauma of floating up the gorge.

The rest splashed happily in the icy water while I tried to make Edmund feel a little better — which was rather challenging since he wouldn’t come near me.  It was a long walk back over the rocky terrain back to the carpark and then the campsite.

 

Jarrad, Peter, Susan, and Lucy would have liked to have floated down more gorges in the West MacDonnell Ranges.  I would have, too, except was a little apprehensive about snakes.  No one seriously suggested a repeat, though, because we hated seeing Edmund upset.

 

So where did we stay?

The Namatjira Drive had many floodways that were currently underwater and a few people reported seeing small fish as they drove through these waters. Although shallow, the rivers were flowing quickly over the rocks. We looked at Ormiston Gorge which was spectacular in its beauty but again too crowded.

We drove past Glen Helen to the more isolated Red Bank Gorge and decided to move the campervan there. It was bushy and peaceful with a large camping area and, even better, free gas barbeques. The drive there was long and slow as we could only creep along due to the potholes and crevices in the road.

 

That morning, I convinced Lucy to take her training wheels off her bike. I’d noticed that Lucy kept leaning over to ride on one training wheel and then fell over, and thought that she might fall over less without the training wheels. No one else was convinced, but finally I convinced Lucy

Lucy insisted on having the bike held while she got on, and I held her while she started moving and then let go, and Lucy kept riding. The only time Lucy needed any help at all was to get the bike started, and then she cycled better without the training wheels than she ever had with them on.

We all kept saying, “I can’t believe how quickly that happened! She’s picked it up so quickly!”

We are so proud of her!

 

 

 

Travelling Australia in a campervan since 2009 with our four children aged 4, 7, 10, and 11. We are a family living on the road. Stopping to work in rural and remote towns as we need more money, we love this lifestyle. The four kids are homeschooled as we work our way slowly around Australia.

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About Amy and Jarrad

Travelling Australia in a campervan since 2009 with our four children aged 4, 7, 10, and 11. We are a family living on the road.
Stopping to work in rural and remote towns as we need more money, we love this lifestyle. The four kids are homeschooled as we work our way slowly around Australia.

Comments

  1. Great detail mum
    I love the way it is written
    Peter recently posted..A Week at Monarto ZooMy Profile

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